Page 103 of Cursed Lifeline

Chuckling I growl, “I taste better than I smell. I bet you do, too. A fact I could’ve confirmed if you just would’ve let me…”

“Ember isn’t entertaining visitors,” one of the guards cuts off my whispered rambling.

He eyes Celeste with disgust.

“Trust me, she’ll want toentertainme.”

“Haven’t been with anyone, huh?” Celeste laughs under her breath, refusing to believe the truth I told her in confidence in the carriage.

I tighten my grip and hold the blade harshly against her delicate skin.

“Watch your mouth, kitten,” I warn. “Or do I need to remind you what happens when you continue to run it?”

Celeste's breathing increases. Blood rushes through her veins, making me lick my lips as my head rests against her neck and I breathe in the perfumed scent of her forbidden liquor.

Sniffing the air, the guard says, “She’s in heat.” Taking a step forward, he gestures to his friend and grins. “We’ll take her off your hands. Deliver her to Ember. You’re free to go.”

Yanking Celeste back a step, a possessive jealousy courses through my veins. “She stays with me,” I demand.

Celeste softens in my arms and leans back into my embrace for protection. The gesture tempts my heart to life. Defending her honor and keeping her safe instantly becomes my number one priority. But even more shocking than the realization of my sudden response is the fact that it doesn’t pain me to admit it—at least not to myself, where I’ll keep these growing feelings, emotions, and hopeful sentiments hidden for eternity.

The guards eye us both bitterly. The one on the right speaks again, “I told you. Ember is not…”

“She’ll want to meet the slayer who knows where Esme is hiding,” I reveal, since it seems there is no other way we will be granted entrance to Ember’s lair.

The guard's eyes grow wide.

“Slayer,” the one on the left asks, astonished.

“Esme?” The one on the right tightens his grip around his axe as the name leaves his lips.

They step forward eagerly. I take another step back, dragging Celeste with me. Her feet trip in the gravel. As she stumbles, the blade against her neck nicks a small cut into her porcelain skin. Blood rises to the surface. A small trickle slips temptingly down her delectable nape.

The guards rush us. Holding my breath, my body shakes with the need to taste as large bat wings erupt from my spine and I fly Celeste up into the air.

A shrill gasp falls from Celeste’s lips as we coast just out of reach.

“I didn’t know you could…”

Shaking my head as it dawns on us what I’ve just done, I growl, “Neither did I.”

Tightening my grip around her waist, we eye the guards below our feet, and I growl, “If I was desperate before, I’m fucking feral now with the need to taste you, kitten.”

My nose brushes against the cut on her throat. Celeste bites her lip and leans her head to the side, allowing me access to do as I please as I eye the guards over her shoulder.

“If you’re going to fuck with my life, might as well do it now,” she snaps. My hands tremble as I hold her tight against my frame, and it takes all my restraint not to take what she’s so eagerly offering as the guards yell for us to come down.

“What’s stopping you, Talon?” Celeste taunts as the angle at which she bends her neck causes more blood to pool out of the small cut just below her jugular vein.

Fuck.

Whatisstopping me?

I’ve never cared before.

She’s a slayer.

I’m a vampire.

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